Biz Beat Blog

New Homewood Suites in downtown Dallas has full house on opening weekend

The only Hilton in downtown Dallas hosted capacity crowds for its first weekend in business, thanks in large part to the Red River Rivalry.

College football fans and others filled the lobby of the new Homewood Suites by Hilton for opening weekend. (Photos by Karen Robinson-Jacobs/ DMN)

The lobby of the new the 130-room Homewood Suites was packed over the weekend with football fans and hotel staffers, including security.

Many came to watch Texas take on Oklahoma in the classic football showdown.

Initially, hotel executives thought they would ease into the marketplace with what’s called a “soft” opening. That’s when you quietly unlock the front doors and wait for customers to trickle in.

“Due to the demand in the market coupled with being the only Hilton hotel in downtown Dallas, we will not have a soft opening,” said Mindy Dennis, general manager of the hotel at 1025 Elm Street.

There were reservations for opening night, last Wednesday, and Dennis said she expects full occupancy all the way until Thanksgiving.

In a case of strange bedfellows, the Homewood staff got a pre-opening assist from the staff of the Springhill Suites Richardson. Both the Homewood and that Springhill Suites are owned by Lowen Hospitality Management.

One of the main competitors of the new Hilton is a Springhill Suites, located a few blocks away in the West End. It has a different owner.

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